Railroad museum roof nearly finished

GALLIPOLIS — The Gallipolis Railroad Freight Station Museum on Third Avenue has a bright new coat of paint, an official sign and the majority of its vintage slate roof replaced as efforts to get the aged station into working order take fruit.

According to Museum Board Vice-President Jerry Davis, in the museum’s entry, workers have done away with a drop ceiling and removed plywood which previously covered walls on the building’s interior.

“This is the original wood and chimney you would have seen in the station’s operation,” said Davis. “This is what it looked like in 1901.”

The station will be painted in yellow and dark colors to match with the previously owning company of the building.

“(The station) was built in 1901 by Hocking Valley Railroad,” said Davis previously. “Chesapeake and Ohio took possession of it. Then in (the early 1980s) CSX had control of it. They closed it. They condemned the building and turned it over to the McIntyre Park district. They took up the rails and paved (a walking path).”

Along with the roof replacement, Gingerich Construction has been at work replacing and repairing the back portion of the station by giving its eaves new supports. According to Davis, the supports must be set using a peg system in order to remain authentic to the time of the original freight station in order to be placed on the National Historic Registry. Some of the wooden supports make use of the original bolts which were found in the station’s first construction.

Davis said the museum is making use of a cherry picker for the next week and hopes to have the roof done soon. The board anticipates that it will acquire an older engine in the fall after it has placed more rail outside the museum. Within the next few weeks, workers will power wash the inside of the museum in hopes of cleaning up animal and bird droppings. Several creatures had made the building home once it was abandoned.

“Everything is coming along nicely,” said Davis. “The community has just been fabulous with its support.”